Modern Buddy

Hi everybody,

I am going to pickup 2x 2013 Buddy 170i's this evening with my brother for him and his wife. One has 3k miles on it and the other is at 4.5k.

I have several years of working on motorcycles professionally under my belt, but I've only ever worked on 2-3 scooters and nothing much in-depth. I had never even heard of the Genuine scooter company before last night, but it seems they have some pretty good reviews.

I was hoping to get a small list of things to check for on these particular bikes as I know almost every vehicle ever made has a small list of specific quirks particular to it.

I found a service manual on manuallib's that seems to be pretty thorough but haven't been able to find any info specific to the 170i's on the break in period which is pretty crucial for all bikes. I'm not sure if the bikes are coming from the original owners, but I plan to ask for services records and whatnot if they have them especially with the mileage being so low.

Thanks for any info you guys can give me.

At 3k miles and up, you don't need to worry about the break in period, it's already long past.

First order of business for both bikes will be an engine and gearbox oil change, unless the previous owner has solid records of when/where servicing and oil changes have been done. At that mileage, you're probably going to want to check the belt for wear. It should be a 20mm wide belt, so if it's dropped down to 18-19mm wide, it's time for replacement.

At 3k and 4.5k miles I'd be surprised if the rollers were worn out, but check them while you are in there.

The rest of it is just common sense stuff. Check tires for dry rot, brake pads for excessive wear, signs of leaking, etc etc.

Beyond that, these are pretty solid bikes. As long as the battery is strong, and they keep the oil where it's supposed to be, it should be a solid scoot for them.

Stanza wrote: At 3k and 4.5k miles I'd be surprised if the rollers were worn out, but check them while you are in there.

That's part of the CVT system I'm assuming? I have never worked on a CVT and honestly know very little about them. How would I check that?

That is part of the CVT. If you were able to find a service manual, it should be covered in one of the chapters. If you are feeling frisky and own an 8mm socket wrench, you should be able to pop the CVT cover off without much fuss.

If not, there might be a genuine dealership somewhere nearby that could give them a looking over. Here's a link to their dealer locator:

http://www.genuinescooters.com/dealers.html


If all else fails, maybe an independent shop?

Rhett wrote:I have several years of working on motorcycles professionally under my belt, but I've only ever worked on 2-3 scooters and nothing much in-depth. I had never even heard of the Genuine scooter company before last night, but it seems they have some pretty good reviews.

The thing to know about the Genuine Scooter Company is that it is an importer - not a manufacturer. Now, that is not a bad thing, but it does mean that the scooters are no better than the actual manufacturer. The Buddy's are built by PGO in Taiwan. So are several of the other Genuine scooters. Excellent design and build. We've had one of our Buddys since we bought it new in 2007. It has given us excellent service and has required no significant repairs - just routine maintenance in all that time. The same can not be said of some other manufacturers Genuine has dealt with.

BTW, regarding manuals - Genuine provides them all on line (except the Stellas).

http://www.genuinescooters.com/ownersmanual.html

There's lot's of good info right here: peruse the "Reference" section of this forum.

As a testament to the goodness of the 170i, I'm at 15,000 miles and having the very first issues with the scoot. I do all the maintenance with regular oil changes, valve adjustments, filters, belt/rollers/guides, sparking plugs, etc.
The scoot is goodness incarnate. Value and quality are right where they should be at this price point and much better than Piagio products, in my humble estimation.

I'd flush and bleed the front brakes on both of those, and also check the valve clearance. The exhaust valve on my 170i was tight every check at 4,000. Be sure and check the tire pressure regularly as well. They can be 12 pounds low and still look fine.